Oversize loads in the trunk or on the load-carrying platform can prevent the trunk lid from being shut. The lid is often then secured by rope but it is difficult to find anchorage points for the rope which is unsightly and may be unsafe.
The present invention provides a trunk lid fastening device for use in such circumstances which consists in an elongated link adjustable in length and having at one end a releasable fastener adapted to engage a striker of the trunk lid lock of the vehicle and at the other end a keeper element adapted to be received in and retained by the latching member of the trunk lid lock.
In use of the device, after loading the trunk or platform the releasable fastener is engaged with the striker of the trunk lid lock and the keeper element is engaged with the latching member of the trunk lid lock which is then restored to its latching condition. Finally the elongated link is adjusted to the required length which is usually such that the trunk lid is held down against the load.
The elongated link is preferably a strap of webbing or other flexible material with a buckle or other known form of adjustment for the length of the strap.
The releasable fastener may be an openable clasp, for example, of the kind used on dog leads having a hook with a spring-loaded tongue normally closing a gap through which the trunk lid striker can pass when the clasp is engaged therewith. Alternatively the openable clasp may take any other suitable known form of fastening having a closure member capable of positively retaining the device in engagement with the trunk lid striker. For example, it may be like any of the various forms of shackle used in yacht rigging or in the form of a gapped spring ring with a closure loop hinged to the ring on one side of the gap and engageable with a hook formed on the end of the ring at the other side of the gap, the loop being retained in the closed condition by the resilience of the spring ring.
Openable clasps as described above are most suitable for use with strikers which are supported at both ends of the portion normally engaged by the latching member of the trunk lid lock, for example, of staple form or with a pin or bar connecting, and supported by, spaced arms or plates. Sometimes trunk lid locks have cantilevered strikers for example spigots supported at one end only and usually with an enlarged head at the free end. For use with such strikers the releasable fastener may be a fitting such as a plate, sheet metal pressing or plastics moulding, with a shaped aperture, such as a keyhole slot having a portion large enough to allow the head to pass through and a smaller portion held, in use of the device, so as to engage behind the head. Alternatively a releasable fastener in the form of an openable clasp may be provided. The openable clasp may be a closed ring or apertured plate with a detent projecting into the opening of the ring or the aperture and adapted to grip the striker or engage behind a head on the free end of the striker.
The keeper element at the other end of the link member may be a simple ring, for example a D-shaped ring, but preferably includes a keeper portion corresponding to the portion of the striker which is engaged by the latching member of the trunk lid lock.
As trunk lid locks in common use have different sizes of strikers, the keeper element may have keeper portions to suit different locks. In one form the keeper element has three keeper portions of different sizes. The keeper element is movable in relation to the elongated link to bring any one of the keeper portions into a position of use.